Farnham Visit - Internet bridges 365 yrs

Timothy Farnham is a middle-aged executive with AT&T in California. He is also a keen family historian and user of the Internet. His researches back through the Farnham family tree indicated that a forebear had emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635. Further investigation revealed a link to the Farnhams of Leicestershire. At this point that Timothy's browsing took him to the pages of St. Bartholomew's Church on the Quorn Village Website and an initial email contact with myself.

He was planning a short visit to England and asked for help in organising a day's excursion to Quorn. At first this was only to attend a service at the Church, but the itinerary gradually expanded until, in August, he spent over ten energetic and fascinating hours in the village.

After attending the service, Alison Cooper gave him a tour of the Farnham Chapel, one of the best preserved in the Country and full of monuments to his ancestors. Then he met John and Kate Hutchinson, receiving from them, on behalf of the Parish Council, a copy of the publication 'Bygone Quorn in Photographs'. That was also an opportunity to meet Tim Rodgers, instigator of the Village Website andworking in the same field as Timothy.

Next stop was the 180-years-old Quorn House, former residence of the Farnhams and now the Administrative and Training Centre for Rosemary Coney's commercial activities. During a tour of the mansion Ms Conley took a break from filming a cookery series to meet the visitor.

At lunch Timothy had the chance to meet the only Farnhams still living in Quorn, Matthew Farnham and his wife Suzanne. They are, themselves, very interested in their family history and, though they knew little or nothing about the American branch, they had also traced back to the Ralph Farnham who had crossed the Atlantic during the reign of Charles the First.

Later in the afternoon all three Farnhams paid a first visit to Quorn Hall which, though passing out of their family's possession in 1686, was still part of its history.

Throughout the day Timothy showed the depth of his research into the family in England, as well as an intimate knowledge of the generations which had gradually worked their way across from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard. One of his gunfighting ancestors in Texas even had a tombstone embellished with crossed weapons!

The outcome of this visit has been the establishment of an end-of-millennium relationship between members of the same family whose lines had parted nearly four hundred years ago.

Matthew and Timothy will continue the contact by email and share each other's discoveries.Had it not been for the innovative development of the Quorn Village Website in the first place, perhaps those branches would never have met each other. As it is, Timothy cannot wait to return to Quorn with his own family and introduce them to part of their own heritage.

Michael Bird